College Football Upsets of the Year

Week 2: the madness begins. We knew East Carolina was for real after their last-second defeat of Virginia Tech the week before, but we didn't realize exactly how good they were until this beauty. ECU controlled West Virginia from kickoff until the closing whistle, allowing QB Pat White just 72 yards passing, and holding him under 100 yards rushing.

It was the first week of the season, and Clemson was in the top 10 because we didn't know any better at the time. Well, Alabama quickly showed us that Clemson were the pretenders, and they were here to stay.

This was a big game at the time, but it ranks low because it wasn't close at all. Oklahoma smoked Texas Tech and put them back at No. 3 in the Big 12 South, where they belong.

Oklahoma State set the standard that would be followed the next week by a big loss to Texas by the Tigers. They also ended any lingering national title hopes for Missouri and effectively ruined Chase Daniels Heisman hopes.

In a disappointing night for the Bulldogs, they were completely shut down in the first half. Heading into halftime, they were down 31-0. They finally came to life in the second half, but it was too little, too late. This home loss effectively booted the Dawgs from the national championship race.

This would be a much bigger upset if it had turned out that it mattered. The Longhorns and Sooners played see-saw all game, until a late interception sealed it for the 'Horns. However, the BCS committee later all-but decided that this game hadn't actually been played. They practically awarded OU the Big 12 Championship berth over Texas.

In a captivating performance, the Hawkeyes booted the Nittany Lions from the top five and ended Penn State's chances at giving JoePa another title. They still made it to the Rose Bowl, and got their coach a contract extension, however.

Perhaps the game itself is not as famous as Tebow's post-game, tear-streaked promise, and his spending the rest of the season making good on that promise. But the game almost put Florida out of title game, and it definitely fired them up for the rest of the season.

This heart-breaking, last-second loss to the fiery Harrell-Crabtree combination eliminated Texas from the Big 12 Championship game and from national championship contention, as well. But at least it set them up for a January date with Ohio State.

Oregon State's annual upset of USC this year put a black mark on an otherwise stellar year by the Trojan's defense, who should arguably be playing either Oklahoma or Florida for the National Championship. And OSU was a Civil War win in Corvallis away from the Rose Bowl and leaving USC out of a tradition that southern California looks forward to every year.